A wide variety of service providers, such as cable providers and satellite providers, provide entertainment services to customers, including television services, on demand programming services, pay-per-view (“PPV”) services, and other entertainment and/or informational services. In many situations, a customer is required to purchase content from a service provider. For example, a customer is typically required to purchase PPV content, such as PPV movies, and upgraded programming content, such as a sports package.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram representation of a conventional PPV purchasing system. With reference to FIG. 1, one or more guide data providers 105 typically provide guide data 107 to a guide server 110. The guide data 107 is indicative of the programming content that is offered by various content providers, including PPV content that is available for purchase. The guide server 110 generates an interactive electronic program guide (“EPG”) that is communicated to a set-top box (“STB”) 115 associated with a customer. The EPG typically includes a listing of programs that are broadcast or output by the service provider for reception by customers, as well as programming content that is available for purchase. The listing is often organized by channel and by time slots. Once received by the STB 115, the EPG is typically displayed to the customer using an electronic program guide application.
When a customer desires to purchase broadband content, such as a PPV event, the customer typically enters a purchase request into the STB 115. A purchase amount associated with the desired content is compared to a predetermined credit limit 117 for the customer that is typically stored on the STB 115. The credit limit 117 is typically determined or calculated by a billing and provisioning system 120 and communicated to the STB 115 at periodic time intervals. If the credit available to the customer is sufficient to facilitate the purchase, stored data 119 associated with the purchase event is stored on the STB 115 for subsequent polling by the billing and provisioning system 120. Additionally, an indication of the purchase is typically communicated to the billing and provisioning system 120. The billing and provisioning system 120 directs a conditional access system (“CAS”) controller 125 to provide the customer with access to PPV events in general, and the CAS controller 125 directs one or more CAS encryption devices 130 to encrypt a data stream associated with the purchasable content. The STB 115 then decrypts the data stream following a purchase at the STB 115. The customer may then utilize the STB 115 to view the purchased PPV event. However, the customer is not automatically permitted to utilize other devices, such as other set-top boxes in the customer's home, to view the purchased PPV event.
With continued reference to FIG. 1, the billing and provisioning system 120 typically polls the STB 115 at periodic time intervals in order to determine whether any purchases have been made. In many conventional systems, the billing and provisioning system 120 requests stored purchase data 119 from the STB 115. If one or more purchases have been made, then the billing and provisioning system 120 charges a customer account for the purchases. With the conventional polling approach, there is a risk that purchase events will become stale and/or that stored data associated with purchases will not be collected by the billing and provisioning system 120, thereby resulting in lost revenue on the part of the service provider. Additionally, in the case of multiple set-top boxes associated with an account, the polling approach may result in discrepancies between the aggregate purchases that have been made and the credit limit that is available to the customer.
Accordingly, improved systems and methods for facilitating purchases of broadband content and services are desirable. More specifically, systems and methods that facilitate real-time purchases of broadband content and services are desirable.